Peppermint Atole

This atole has me wanting seconds all over again. I made it last week and tested it a few more times after that. Now that I’m finally getting around to sharing it with you all, I suddenly want more.

Atole is sorta, kinda, a little bit like champurrado. It’s a flavored milk that is thickened with corn flour, cornstarch, or in this case, rice flour. For this particular atole I used rice flour because it works incredibly well with the candy cane in my opinion. I’ve tasted some….not so good atoles in my days, which in turn made me hate atole altogether. When people ask me, “do you like atole?” and I reply back with an “eww, no way!” I almost always get the ‘What kind of a Mexican are you?’ look.

My answer to that? I am a Mexican-American girl who rebelled against speaking Spanish for most of my life. Why? Because I’m the kind of person who doesn’t take insults very well. Yes, I get butt hurt easily. And one too many laughs at my expense for speaking pocho Spanish kinda killed my interest in it which explains why I have the Spanish Vocabulary of a second grader.

Still, though, I love my Mexican heritage and the food that comes with it. I believe it is a part of my DNA. Seriously, if you were to draw blood from my arm and look under a microscope, you probably would see tamale shaped blood cells.

Ok, not really.

But that’s a funny thought, no?

Anyway, atole is one of those things that makes me think of my Tia’s because they are the only ones who will go out of their way to make it anymore. I don’t think any of my cousins make it. In fact, I might be the first one to actually make it out of all of us first-gen kids in the family. Maybe my cousin Amanda? She likes to cook as much as I do. One of these days I’m gonna have to bribe her to do a post with me. She comes up in my posts every now and then.

Anyway, back on topic. Champurrado is the ONLY atole-like drink I will make time for. I LOVE champurrado. Any other kind hasn’t really made my skirt fly up or anything like that, so that is something I felt needed to be addressed. But how do I make an atole that my family and I will actually enjoy?!

As it turns out, it’s really not that difficult. I mean, it’s as easy as throwing a few ingredients in a pot, cooking it, and boom! Done!

Ok, maybe not like that easy, but if you can warm up milk in a pot, then you can totally do this. Trust me!

If you would have seen and tasted the very first batch of peppermint atole I attempted, you would have been afraid to try it again anywhere else. Seriously, that is why I’ve never liked it. If you add too much flour or cornstarch, it can get too thick. My guess is that somewhere in my early childhood years someone made it too thick, and from then on, I’ve hated it. Until now.

I’ve found a way to like atole.

In a 3 quart pot, combine 2 cups water with 2 cups milk, 3 tablespoons condensed milk, 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract, 3 tablespoons rice flour, and 3 tablespoons crushed peppermint (a.k.a candy cane). Warm the milk over medium-high heat, whisk often as it warms up so the rice flour doesn’t clump up. If it starts to boil, lower the heat to medium-low and continue whisking. After 10 minutes, turn off the heat, cover, and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.

Serve and top with whipped cream, crushed candy cane pieces, and chopped semi-sweet chocolate or chocolate syrup.

It’s perfect!

Not too minty, and most importantly not too thick. The kids are going to love this one!